Picture frame



R. J. FABRY PICTURE FRAME Oct. 1, 1957 Filed June 14, 1955 0/; A TT OR N EYS r 2,807,900 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 United States Patent .fiice PICTURE FRAME Robert J. Fabry, Milwaukee, Wis. Application June 14, 1955, Serial No. 515,368 1 Claim. (Cl. 46-1521 This invention appertains to the attractive display of pictures, posters, photographs, calendars, and the like, and more particularly to a novel frame in which the displayed matter can 'be quickly removed, and replaced by a different picture or the like, without the manipulation of latches or tools.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a picture or like frame embodying a base plate adapted to be, more or less, permanently secured to a wall and carrying means for detachably holding a picture or other matter fiat against the same and an ornamental frame member or shadow box hingedly secured to the base plate and adapted to be moved over the base plate to an operative position relative to the picture, and for hiding the base plate from view with automatic means for holding the frame member against accidental movement when the frame member is in its operative position.

Another salient object of my invention is the provision of permanent magnets secured to the base plate with armatures carried by the inner face of the frame member adapted to be attracted and held by the magnets when the frame member is in its operative position.

A further object of my invention is to provide novel means for mounting the permanent magnets on the base plate, whereby the magnets will effectively attract their armatures, even though the frame member may be mounted on the base plate slightly out of correct alignment.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a picture frame of the above character, which will be durable and efiicient in use, one that will be simple and easy to manufacture and one which can be placed upon the market at a reasonable price.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of my novel picture frame, parts of the figure being shown broken away and in section to illustrate structural detail;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the frame and on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the frame, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a detail fragmentary horizontal sectional view illustrating the novel mounting of the magnets on the base plate and the mounting of an armature on the frame member, the view being on a larger scale than Figures 1, 2 and 3, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows and illustrating the hinge construction for the frame member.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter P generally indicates my novel picture or like frame and the same includes a flat base plate 10 formed from any desired material, such as plywood, a sheet of plastic or the like. The base plate 10 isadapted to be rigidly secured to a desired support such as a wall 11 of a room and any desired type of fastening elements 12 can be utilized for holding the base plate on the wall. The fastening elements can be screws, as shown, or expansion fasteners of a type well known in the trade.

The base plate 10 is of a size and shape to receive a picture 13 or otherdesired matter to be displayed, and the picture is held flat on the base plate against movement in any desired way. I prefer to utilize lower flat spring clips 14 and these clips can be held on the base plate 10 by the lower screws 12 employed for holding the base plate in position. The lower edge of the picture 13 can be slipped in between the clips 14 and the base plate; .The upper edge of the base plate carries hook shaped resilient clips 15 and the upper edge of the picture is held between these clips and the base plate. The clips can be of'the'type which can be manually actuated to release the picture and to permit the picture to be easily placed thereover. It may be desirable to space the base plate slightly from the wall 11 to facilitate the manipulation of the upper clips 15 and in such instance the plate can be provided with spacing strip-s (not shown). The upper clips can be secured to the base plate in any desired way.

Associated with the base plate 10 is a frame member 16 and this frame member is of such a size as to completely cover the base plate and hide the base plate from view. The frame member is preferably of an ornamental character and can be formed from any desired material. I preferably mold the frame from a thermoplastic material and as illustrated, the frame member is of the socalled shadow box type. The frame member 16 is carried by the base plate for swinging movement so that the frame member can be swung to a lowered position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, or to a raised operative position, as shown in full lines in the various figures of the drawing. To bring about the desired swinging movement of the frame member 16, I employ a pair of lower hinges 17 which are of a specific construction. Each hinge includes a pair of spaced hinge barrels 18 carried by, or formed on the base plate 10, adjacent to its lower edge and the inner face of the frame member has formed thereon or secured thereto a hinge barrel 19. A rubber washer 20 is placed between one barrel 18 and the barrel 19 and a hinge pin 21 is inserted through all of the barrels and the rubber washer 20. The opening in the rubber washer 20 is of a less diameter than the diameter of the pin 21 so that the rubber washer will frictionally engage and hold the pin.

When the frame member 16 is swung to a raised operative position, the same lies in front of the base plate and permits an attractive display of the picture 13 or other desired matter.

When the frame 16 is swung to its raised operative position, means is provided for preventing accidental swinging movement of the frame member 16 relative to the base plate 10. This is accomplished by providing a pair of permanent magnets 22 carried by the base plate and the frame member 16 in alignment with these magnets carries armatures 23 adapted to be attracted and held by said magnets. Hence, when the frame member 16 is swung to its operative position the armatures 23 will be attracted by the magnets and the frame member will be held against normal swinging movement. If the frame 16 is made of a plastic material, the armatures 23 can be secured to the frame member by the use of screws 23'.

I prefer to mount the magnets 22 in a special way on 3 the base plate 10, so that if the frame member 16 is slightly twisted the magnets will still be able to attract their armatures. As illustrated, the magnets 22 are mounted for sliding movement in sockets 24 anchored to the base plate, and the magnets are urged outwardly toward the open ends of the sockets by expansion springs 25.

Obviously, when it is desired to change the matter being displayed, it is merely necessary to pull the frame member l6 away from the magnets and to swing the frame member down to a suspended position below the base plate. At this time, the picture or the like can be removed from the clips and new matter to be displayed, placed under the clips.

I prefer to form openings 26 in the picture 13 so that the sheet can be placed over the magnets and ineifect the magnets and the openings form location members to center the picture on the base plate.

When my frame is utilized for a calendar having a separate sheet for each month, it is merely necessary to swing down the frame and tear off a sheet from the calcudar and then swing the frame back to the operative position.

Various changes in details may be made without de-,v parting from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

A picture or like frame comprising a flat base plate,

means for securing the base plate to a support, a sheet of material to be displayed adapted to be placed flat against the outer face of the base plate, an open frame member hingedly carried by the lower end of the base plate and movable over the base plate to an operative position relative to the sheet and to completely hide the base plate from view, a pair of magnets slidably carried by said base plate adjacent the upper end thereof, each magnet being positioned adjacent the outer periphery of said base plate in substantial alignment with one another, a pair of armatures secured to said frame member in alignment with said magnets when the frame member is in its operative position, a socket member for each magnet, an expansion spring in said socket so positioned as to continually urge its respective magnet toward the outer open end of said socket, and means restricting the outward movement of each magnet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 635,278 Hart Oct. 17, 1899 2,029,221 Burgess Jan. 18, 1936 2,659,169 Brennan Nov. 17, 1953 2,677,910 Morgan May 11, 1954 

